Anniversaries

Births: Pope Innocent XI, 1611; Johann Gottlieb Fichte, philosopher, 1762; Karl Muller-Hartung, conductor and composer, 1834; Alice Mary Smith, composer, 1839; Dame Nellie Melba, singer, 1861; William Waldorf Astor, second Viscount Astor, 1879; Viscountess Astor (Nancy Witcher), 1879; Ho Chi-Minh, Vietnamese leader, 1890; Bruce Bennett (Herman Brix), actor, 1909.

Deaths: Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor, 1218; Ann Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, executed, 1536; Philips Wouwerman, painter, 1668; James Boswell, biographer of Dr Johnson, 1795; Nathaniel Hawthorne, novelist, 1864; William Ewart Gladstone, statesman, 1898; Thomas Edward Lawrence, archaeologist, soldier and author, accidentally killed 1935; Charles Edward Ives, composer, 1954; Ronald Colman, film actor, 1958; Horatio Nicholls (Lawrence Wright), composer and publisher, 1964; Frederic Ogden Nash, writer and humorist, 1971; Sir John Betjeman, Poet Laureate, 1984.

On this day: the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon, 1588; the English destroyed a French fleet off Cap de la Hogue, 1692; William Hamilton, an Irish bricklayer, fired a pistol charged with powder at Queen Victoria, 1849; an international crisis developed after Adolf Hitler made territorial demands on Czechoslovakia, 1938; after friction between British trawlers and Icelandic gunboats, Britain sent Royal Navy frigates inside the Icelandic 50-mile limit, 1973.

Today is the Feast Day of Saints Calocerus and Parthenius, St Crispin of Viterbo, St Dunstan, St Ivo of Kermartin, St Peter Morrone and St Pudens.

Lectures

London School of Economics (Gender Institute Lecture), London WC2: Professor Mary Evans, 'Moralising Women and Moralising About Women', 5.30pm.

Anthony Burgess

A memorial celebration for Anthony Burgess will be held on Thursday 16 June (Bloomsday) at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, London WC2, at noon. Antony Sher will read from Burgess's writing and Auberon Waugh and William Boyd will give addresses. Music, including works composed by Burgess, will be performed by the Barbican Virtuosi. All are most welcome.